It was the elk season here on the rez and I had two clients plus a few others on the same hunt. 3 of my hunters had harvested elk and the others either had shots and missed or passed them up in search of bigger animals. Well the hunt went very well and I made a few friends. One in particular was Eldon, a Canadian from Alberta. He was also an outfitter up there for the Canadian whitetail, which are very huge deer! Well the summer approached as we kept in touch and planned more hunts in the future. We had also discussed a trade for hunts in each others domain. Elk here for a whitetail hunt up there. But it was to happen at a later undetermined date......

I had talked with another client of mine about this hunt and he was more excited than I was! He said do you know how valuable of a hunt that is?? I said it was the one animal I wanted to hunt that we didn't have here on the rez. It was THE ONLY animal I wanted to hunt besides what we had here. Well mY friend was so excited that he asked me if I could get a hunt for him too. I said I don't know but would ask. Well a couple weeks went by and he asked me if I got an answer yet. I said not yet.He said what?!?! Then he said to me " you always wanted a computer right?" I said yes. Well then if you call him and ask and get an answer either way yes or no, I will buy you a new computer! Needless to say I got a little excited myself and soon as I hung up I called my friend Eldon in Alberta and asked. He said sure! 2 for 2! I talked with him for a few minutes then hung up. I called me friend back and told him "pack your bags we are going to Canada!" First thing he said was "come and get your new computer!"

The next day we went down to Chandler and he came out to meet us in the parking lot and opened his truck and gave me the brand new computer! It was set. He also told me that since I have to keep up my end of the bargain he would pay all expenses, airfare, lodging, tags, licenses, meals etc. I paid zero dollars the whole trip! So as some of you know I HATE flying!!!! We flew into Vancouver, B.C then on to Edmonton, Alberta. From there we got a room and the next day were on our way on a 2 hour drive west to our destination. Its funny because when we arrived I guess my friend told everyone in the lodge that I was an Apache and an expert guide so I was immediately elevated to "celebrity" status lol!

I told stories to a few hunters there in the lodge with us and also gained another client! But it was a great experience altogether. The first day of the hunt we drove out in the dark. Remember this is in November near thanksgiving and its supposed to be below zero temps there. Well when we got there, there was 6 inches of snow and cold, maybe 20 degrees for lows. Well I went with our guide and my friend to the first area he was to hunt. We were using tree stands, something I had never done before. We came to the area before first light and walked with my friend to the tree stand and left him there. Then we drove to another spot but got called by my friend who said he found a giant buck! We drove to where he was and he set us up on a log pile and he did a drive for us. The area is very thickly wooded so still hunting isn't good. Well we saw him come out of the trees but no buck. Then he told the guide to take me to an area north of where the buck went and wait there. We did and it was at a place that was identical to another spot 1/4 mile further up the road. Well my friend walked through the trees where he saw the tracks of the big buck went into and he saw it! It started to run right to where we were SUPPOSED to be! If we were in the right spot the buck would have run about 35 yards in front of us but unfortunately we were in the wrong place. He later told us that the buck would have scored easily near 200 inches!! The day ends with us hearing from my friend from Chandler and he shot a nice buck! We helped him get it back to camp. That night we told out stories and got ready for another day.

Second day I got dropped off at a different spot and used a climbing tree stand to go up about 15 feet on a tree and sit and wait. Some deer came right underneath me and I just watched as they fed and walked away never knowing I was there! I was having a blast. Then after about 3 hours my guide came for me and we then went to another spot where we first saw the huge buck the first morning. I sat there for a few hours maybe three then we went to take my friends deer to where they butcher them. Then back to the lodge for the night. Stories flew again and we went to bed anxious for day three. We left very early and I got dropped off at the same place I was the day before. It was cold but maybe in the high 20's by mid morning. I sat there for an hour and heard some deer but never saw them so I climbed up higher to about 30 feet in the tree! The small breeze swayed the tree back and forth that I was on!

Well after about an hour I saw more deer and had a much better vantage point than before. I watched as two does fed my way from the north and zig zagged my way until walking right under my stand and out of view. Then after about 10 minutes I saw movement about 200 yards away. There was a buck trailing the does I had just watched and he was walking in their tracks step for step! I turned and faced him and stood slowly to get adjusted on my seat. As I sat down again and rested my gun to aim, my step platform lost its bite on the tree and it dropped!! It fell until the strap that tied the seat to the step tightened and grabbed hold of the tree again! It stopped at the perfect height for me to just lean my gun on the stand while I was in a standing position! I could have fallen 30 feet if the climber wasn't strapped together! I looked at the buck and it saw me and stared. I knew I had a matter of a couple seconds before he would run off! I aimed my rifle at him and when the cross hairs found their mark I squeezed the trigger..... BAM!!

From the recoil of my dads old .270 rifle I checked for the buck..... He was down!! YES!! 150 yards away and one shot! I was so excited I had forgot about what happened to my tree stand! I then lowered my rifle and pack then climbed down and got the equipment together and my gear and walked over to the buck. Now I have heard stories of deer weighing 300 pounds and more and I thought no way! Let me tell you this: That buck I shot was AT LEAST 300 pounds!! It was about the size of a small elk! I stood by the deer and then knelt and offered a prayer giving thanks to all that unfolded and for the deer giving his life for me. Then I knelt beside it and admired its size and beauty. What a magnificent animal! I sat there for an hour before I called for transportation. My guide showed up and he brought another older gentleman guide and we all admired the deer. I remember the older man asking me if I could do an Apache prayer for him as he had an elk tag and hadn't gotten one in many years. I said yes so we did a little ceremony there and I prayed with my feather and pollen for him. We then went back to the lodge and he went hunting for his elk. We stayed in camp until we had time to drive the animals to the butcher place. We left and went back to the lodge and waited for the night sharing stories from our experiences but I think they just all wanted to hear mine!

Well the older guide returned and he came straight to me and gave me a hug and said "I don't know what to say but I got my first elk in a very long time!" And he said he got it right off the road too! We became friends real fast! Well after our hunts were done on the third day we went sightseeing in the nearest town and bought some souvenirs and just checked out the country. Back at the lodge at dark we decided to head home early on the fifth day even though we booked a whole week. By the end of the fifth day we were stepping off the plane in Phoenix. The temps were 54 in Phoenix and it was 59 in Edmonton, Alberta Canada in November! Well that was my one and only hunt I ever did for myself anywhere besides here on our own rez. I will never forget that experience and yes, my friend came here with another friend and hunted for elk. They both got nice bulls! So we both paid our trade debts and everyone was happy! My friend from Chandler took care of the tip. We paid our guide $800 for a tip! He was in shock! Normally they get $100 but we made him smile that day! I will always cherish my time up there and perhaps one day I will return to hunt the monster Canadian whitetail again!

p/s: I took a photo with the moose skull to show everyone how big they truly are! ... See more

When my ancestors died, their bodies were wrapped in a fur rope and place on a scaffold toward the sky. The birds came and ate some of the body, and eventually the scaffold fell and the rest of the body came back to the earth. The worms ate the body then and took it into the ground. The grass roots reached down into the earth and took up my ancestor's atoms. The deer and moose and buffalo came and ate the grass. We hunted and ate the moose and deer and buffalo, and in that way we took our ancestors atoms into ourselves. My ancestors atoms are in the earth and in me and in the birds and in all living things around me. I am a part of the cycle of earth and life and scaffold and sky and earth again. I am part of the land and the land is a part of me. I will be again....

This is how I see life. So when I see the destruction of the land and the water and our plants and trees, I see life disappearing as I know it to be. What will my body and my atoms feed into if everything is destroyed. I will be no more.... ... See more

Thought this was pretty cool.. who has seen this color phase of a bobcat?

Really cool bobcat. This color phase is actually called Maltese or a blue variety that is very rare. According to the Hudson Bay Fur Company, only a few bobcats of the blue variety were bought between 1700 and 1900. There have been no reports of a blue bobcat in over 100 years until this one that was killed in Grimes County in 2016. Photo credit Lin Poor ... See more